Today in Labor History December 2, 2016: Thirty-six people died in a fire at the Ghost Ship, a converted warehouse in Oakland, California, serving as an artist collective. At the time, the warehouse was hosting a concert. However, the warehouse was zoned for industrial purposes. Residential and entertainment uses were illegal. Of the 80 to 100 people attending the concert, 36 died, making it the deadliest fire in the history of Oakland. The authorities arrested Ghost Ship's master tenant Derick Almena and his assistant Max Harris and charged them with felony involuntary manslaughter. After a series of mistrials, Harris was acquitted. On January 22, 2021, Almena pled guilty to 36 charges of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. With time served, he was expected to be able to serve his sentence in 18 months of home confinement while wearing an ankle monitor. A building inspector, a Child Protective Services agent, six members of the fire department, and three police officers had been to the building several times, but never mentioned any violations. Building owner, Chor Ng, plead the 5th, and never served any time. PG&E eventually paid some damages, as the fire originated with faulty electrical. #workingclass #LaborHistory #fire #police #rent #housing #art #collective #ghostship #oakland #landlord

Today in Labor History December 2, 1980: Four American missionaries were raped and murdered by a Salvadoran death squad. The Salvadoran Civil War began after a 1979 military coup. Catholic activists protested against the junta's oppression of the poor and working class. Death squads assassinated Óscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, March 24, 1980. After the four Americans were murdered, U.S. President Jimmy Carter suspended aid to El Salvador. However, succeeding President, Ronald Reagan, promptly authorized increased military aid. He also sent more U.S. military advisers, escalating attacks on civilians. His foreign policy advisor, Jean Kirkpatrick, claimed that "the nuns were not just nuns; they were political activists," as if this justified their rape and murder. After the release of declassified documents in the 1990s, New Jersey congressman Robert Torricelli stated that it was "now clear that the Reagan Administration was certifying human rights progress in El Salvador they knew the terrible truth that the Salvadoran military was engaged in a widespread campaign of terror and torture." During the Civil War, over 65,000 civilians were killed, plus another 5,300 disappeared, with over half a million people internally displaced, and another half million fleeing to other countries as refugees. #workingclass #LaborHistory #elsalvador #rape #reagan #romero #deathsquads #murder #massmurder #SchooloftheAmericas

Today in Labor History December 2, 1947: Jerusalem Riots. Following the vote in the UN General Assembly in favor of the 1947 UN Partition Plan on 11/29/1947, the Arab Higher Committee declared a three-day General Strike to begin on 2 December 1947. Arab protesters burned many buildings and shops in the city center. Violence continued for two more days, with a number of Jewish neighborhoods being attacked. As a result, the Haganah Jewish paramilitary organization decided to use force to "stop future attacks on Jews". The Irgun paramilitary (an offshoot of the Haganah) conducted armed attacks against nearby Arab villages and a bombing campaign against Arab civilians. Irgun policy was based on Revisionist Zionism: “every Jew had the right to enter Palestine; only active retaliation would deter the Arabs; only Jewish armed force would ensure the Jewish state." The Irgun also helped with the illegal immigration of Jews from Europe to Palestine prior to World War II. This was part of what Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky called the "National Sport:" illegally bringing millions of European Jews to Palestine, all at once, to populate what they hoped to become the new Jewish state. #workingclass #LaborHistory #israel #palestine #zionism #immigration #racism #riots #GeneralStrike #protest #colonialism #settlers #freepalestine #EndTheOccupation

Today in Labor History December 2, 1867: British author Charles Dickens gave his first public reading in the United States at Tremont Temple in Boston. He described his impressions of the U.S. in a travelogue, “American Notes for General Circulation.” In Notes, he condemned slavery and correlated the emancipation of the poor in England with the abolition of slavery abroad. Despite his abolitionist sentiments, some modern commentators have criticized him for not condemning Britain’s harsh crackdown during the 1860s Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica. During his American visit, he also spent a month in New York, giving lectures, and arguing for international copyright laws and against the pirating of his work in America. The press ridiculed him, saying he should be grateful for his popularity here. #workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #abolition #fiction #books #novel #dickens #author #writer #reading [@bookstadon](

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Today in Labor History December 2, 1859: The authorities hanged abolitionist John Brown in Charleston, Virginia for his leadership of a plot to incite a slave rebellion. Victor Hugo, who was living in exile on Guernsey, tried to obtain a pardon for him. His open letter was published by the press on both sides of the Atlantic. His plea failed, of course. On the day of his execution, John Brown rode in a furniture wagon, on top of his own coffin, through a crowd of 2,000 soldiers, to the gallows. The soldiers included future Confederate general Stonewall Jackson and John Wilkes Booth. Walt Whitman described the execution in his poem “Year of Meteors.” #workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #racism #abolition #JohnBrown #rebellion #hanging #deathpenalty #poetry #fiction #books #novel #BlackMastodon [@bookstadon](

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The Climate Crisis will hit hard, and sooner than you think (like in the next 5-25 years). Try turning on the tap and no water comes out. Forget bathing. How about dying of dehydration in major cities, including in the US? Almost three-quarters of drought-prone regions around the world will be at risk of extreme water shortages known as "day zero droughts" by 2100 if emissions aren't reduced, and a third of these regions could be hit before 2030, according to a new study. According to the CNRM model, the U.S. cities at risk by 2030 include Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Phoenix; San Diego; and Milwaukee. By 2060, Minneapolis; Las Vegas; Baltimore; Kansas City, Missouri; and Jacksonville, Florida, are projected to join the group.

Live Science

'An increasing attack on water resources from multiple fronts': Scientists warn 'day zero droughts' could hit before 2030 | Live Science

Three-quarters of the world

#climate #climatecrisis #water #drought

Record-breaking 75-year-old mother bird prepares to nest. Wisdom, the 75-year-old albatross, known as the world’s oldest breeding bird, just returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the central Pacific Ocean for the 2025-2026 nesting season. In 1956, wildlife biologist Chandler Robbins first identified and banded Wisdom after she laid one egg. Since then, Wisdom has produced an estimated 50 to 60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks

Popular Science

Record-breaking 75-year-old mother bird prepares to nest

Wisdom has been laying eggs since the Eisenhower Administration.

Amazon data centers in Oregon might be driving an increase in cancer and miscarriages. Morrow County, Oregon, is home to several Amazon data centers. The data centers suck up tens of millions of gallons of water from the aquifer each year to cool their computer equipment, which then gets funneled to the Port’s wastewater system.” The result is that more nitrate-laden wastewater gets pumped onto area farms. But the porous soil saturates quickly and more nitrates make their way into the aquifer.

The Verge

Data centers in Oregon might be helping to drive an increase in cancer and miscarriages

Amazon data centers might be adding to a public health crisis in Morrow County, Oregon.

#amazon #datacenters #pollution #cleanwater #cancer

A quarter of U.S. Buy-Now-Pay-Later users are now financing groceries with this scam, up 14% from last year. 41% of those surveyed said they made at least 1 late payment on those loans.

CNBC

More Americans are financing groceries with buy now, pay later loans — and more are paying those bills late, survey says

Consumers are using buy now, pay later plans to pay for essentials such as groceries, as concerns around the economy grow.

#classwar #inflation #groceries #poverty